Little Miss Westchester goes to Mexico

I am now officially back from my first ever international business trip! To those of you who missed me, I am sorry for the lack of posts! And to those of you who didn't miss me, well you probably don't read this anyway, so you can go to hell.

If you have never been to Mexico, it is a beautiful place. Long white-sand beaches abound and the water took my breath away every time I saw it. The only thing is, during this time of year it is sweltering hot, especially if you have to wear business casual attire. Also, it is possible to get a tan in the shape of your flip flops. (I guess I should just be glad I got any tan at all.)

The point of my trip was to familiarize myself with all that Cancun and the Riviera Maya have to offer, in the span of a week. I had high hopes that this trip would indeed be fun and games. But boy was I wrong. You know that saying, "when in Rome"? Well the same applies when you are working in Mexico, which means a six day work week from 7:45AM-10PM every day.

On Thursday the company sent my travel companions and me to Maroma Beach to tour the area and experience one of the activities there. We went snorkeling, which was awesome, and after I got over the nausea, we all had lunch.

After lunch we went over to the beach where several horses awaited to take us on a walk through the jungle. Having never been on a horse, or really NEAR one I was a little nervous about the whole thing. The last time I had tried to ride a horse was during the summer of 1986. I was freshly six-years-old and was attending a local summer day camp. For weeks they had planned a special horse riding day and every one in camp was a buzz with excitement. Not only did our parents have to spend an extra $50, but we had to have a permission slip signed(quite an ordeal).

When the day finally arrived I had dutifully explained to my counselor that I needed a VERY calm horse that would not get any funny ideas. As I recall the horse they gave me had one foot in the grave and seemed to walk with the help of a prosthetic hoof, but as soon as I got saddled up, the poor thing bent down for a nibble of grass and I FREAKED out. I ended up spending the rest of the day in the arts and crafts hut while all the other campers went on the long-anticipated ride.

So fast forward to now, where I had decided to finally reface this fear. Quietly I approached the gentleman in charge (for this blog's purposes we will call him Juan) and told him I needed a quiet horse with no outlandish character flaws. He nodded knowingly and directed me to Chiriqui-one of the tour company's most sedate horses.

Getting up into the saddle was one thing. I had listened carefully when Juan had gone over how to "steer" a horse and how not to pull back on the reigns. But little of that mattered when Chiriqui started walking towards a post. I immediately began to cry and as calmly as I could mutter exclaimed "SIR, I have never been on a horse and I think I need some help!"

To make a long story short (too late) I ended up going on the ride, crying most of the way (kind of like my last date). Juan had to lead my horse for the entire hour, but I made it and am very proud of taking that small step towards conquering one of my MANY fears.

Next up I will try to start working on my top three fears which are as follows:

1. Vampires
2. Tornados
3. Murdering Rapists

Anyway, I am now back in Cheese Town U.S.A. and am looking forward to spending time away from the toilet. Tonight I plan on calling Rico Suave. I can't be sure if he called me because my phone goes on the fritz every time I leave the country with it-so I have decided to just frickin' call him and see what happens. I will update tomorrow on the outcome of that. Until then adios y buenos noches.